Watts will be joined by group coordinator Jane Baker to launch The tracks we leave, his ninth published book.

The book consists of selected poems from his years of writing. It covers a range of topics from man’s early settlement in Mungo, NSW, through to the advent of the computer.

His style is varied (conventional or prose poetry) and he adopts a style to best suit the topic. The poems also cover: nature; the interactions between moon, music and mood; philosophies, romance and human nature.

When asked why he writes, Watts said he “needed a change from the rigor” involved in mathematics.

Watts was a mathematics teacher who became a mathematics consultant in retirement. He said he needed some creative activity in his life, which he had found in poetry.

Watts is a poet and a 15-year member of Yass Valley Writers. He has a life-long love of poetry and still quotes poetry learnt in his school years.

The 79-year-old said he regarded Yass as his literary home.

He considers his approach to writing as one of “smorgasbord”.

He has been in a number of writers groups and has had poems published in magazines and newspapers. His work has been read in public, at meetings and on radio stations.

His published work consists of seven books about poetry and one novel: